“For years, Chevron has wanted to upgrade its Richmond refinery – replacing old equipment, increasing the amount of gasoline it can produce and giving the plant more flexibility in processing different grades of crude oil. But those plans have been blocked by residents and environmentalists, who say the changes could increase air pollution from the plant. Although the Richmond City Council approved the renovation project in 2008, a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge later blocked it, saying Chevron’s environmental impact report didn’t answer key questions.”

“The crude unit at the center of Monday’s fire was not one of the pieces of equipment that would have been replaced in the planned renovation, said several sources involved in the dispute.”

We’ve trained many Chevron employees at the Richmond Refinery to use TapRooT® to investigate incidents and accidents and prevent major catastrophes. Of course, the bad news is that there was a fire. The good news is that nobody was killed or seriously hurt.